AN: I do not own Naruto or Blackmore's Night's Ghost of a Rose.
Ghost of A Rose: The Last Jinchuuriki
Chapter 1
Itachi ran up the stairs, carrying one blond over his shoulder and the nameless sacrifice he'd chosen being dragged by one hand.
He fell against the wall as the fortress shook with the force of another blow. A few more steps and he burst through into the fortress's innermost chambers. Throwing both bodies down to the floor, he pushed the enormous locks into place and sank down to sit on the floor, gasping for breath.
Only a moment later he forced his tired body up and walked across to the table he'd set up only an hour earlier, before all hell had broken loose. Tearing a piece of cloth from his sleeve, he tied off his upper arm causing the vein to bulge in the crook of his right elbow.
An alcohol swab and a syringe filled with a purplish liquid, only years of practice kept his hand steady as he emptied the syringe into his own bloodstream. The moment he removed the cloth it was like a slap as the poison began eating away at the memories he possessed.
His hands flew through the seals that he only remembered because of the Sharingan. The Nine Tails' chakra began to glow around the young Naruto's body and then began feeding itself into a statue which had appeared, a miniature of the real one. Both of them knew something was wrong, but Itachi had the chakra to force the jutsu into working order and did so without hesitation.
He could barely see now and even though he knew his hands were moving through the seals so fast that normal shinobi couldn't see them, he felt as if he were moving through water and every breath took a lifetime.
Naruto gave a short gasp as the last of the Nine Tails' chakra left him, the beast screeching as he was literally forced out.
Standing, Itachi grabbed the sais from the table and walked towards the statue, his hands still forming seals.
His right arm was solid black and the poison was beginning to spread over his shoulder.
Kisame abandoned the battle and ran up the stairs, bypassing the labyrinth of halls and destroyed the door with a quick jutsu.
He took one look at the seals drawn into the floor in blood and Itachi standing in front of the statue and grabbed the young Uchiha around the waist after crossing the room in one bound.
Itachi screeched as the sais fell from his hands, his poisoned body being unable to resist the larger shinobi as he was dragged back.
"Let me go, Kisame! You don't know why! You would never understand!"
"That doesn't matter!"
Kisame felt his next words die in his throat as his head was forcefully pulled down. The last thing he ever saw was his partner's red eyes.
Itachi summoned the last of his strength to push Kisame's dead body away from him, the Mangekyou Sharingan blazing in the darkness. He ran back to the statue, grabbing the sais from where they lay in the dirt.
The poison reached his heart.
The Uchiha gave a sharp cry of pain as he stabbed the sais through the head of the statue.
Spurts of blood exploded from the statue, bathing Itachi in the warm liquid as spires of blazing light cracked through the statue, searing away at the darkness and through the castle, burning cloth and stone alike.
The Leader of Akatsuki felt a twitch in his heart that escalated into a sharp pain as the real statue cracked and exploded in his mind.
Everywhere and wherever they happened to be, Akatsuki members fell to the ground, dead before they hit the dirt.
In Konoha, Sakura was waiting when they brought Neji, Chouji, and Kiba in. Shikamaru and Temari came not long after them.
She was still waiting when they brought Sasuke back. Kakashi's gaze answered her unasked question.
"I couldn't find Naruto."
The valley green was so serene
In the middle ran a stream so blue
A maiden fair in despair
Once had met her true love there
And she told him
She would say
'Promise me when you see
A white rose you'll think of me.
I love you so never let go.
I will be your ghost of a rose.'